Columns

Yang: What Riots Can Teach Us

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By ELENA YANG
Los Alamos
 
What Riots Can Teach Us

“Hows” always intrigue me. Learning about learning; how we behave differently in different contexts (how do we know?); or, how to think…

Mark Granovetter’s The Strength of Weak Ties, the seminal work on social networks, was the foundation of my own PhD dissertation. However, only recently from reading “Everything Is Obvious” (click here) did I learn about Granovetter’s “riot model” and how we rationalize the motivation behind baffling collective behavior. 

Like many people, I don’t always realize what motivates myself (I can usually Read More

Home Country: No More Excuses

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Home Country
By SLIM RANDLES

“Bert looks good this morning, Doc,” Dud said, quietly. Three stools down the counter, Bert smiled and said, “Yes, I certainly do!”

We turned toward our old pal. “You heard that?”

“Sure did, guys,” he grinned. “Look….”

He pointed to his ears. “Hearing aids,” he said. We walked over and looked, and sure enough.

“It was Maizie’s idea,” Bert said. “She made the appointment and everything. Said she was tired of having the TV on so loud.”

“But it was a good idea, Bert,” Doc said.

“Oh, I know. I’d been thinking about it for some time, Doc, but you know how a guy gets. You never really Read More

Cinema Cindy Reviews ‘Ant-Man’

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By CYNTHIA BIDDLECOMB
Los Alamos

The movie “Ant-Man” about another of Marvel Comic’s Avengers, opened Friday.

Vastly entertaining, the film not only has several funny lines, it also takes one’s imagination to the micro-reality of the insect world. Interestingly enough, the character of Ant-Man first appeared in Marvel’s Premiere #47-48 in 1979.

The idea of a movie featuring this superhero has been in the works since 1980.

In this film version, Michael Douglas plays the original Ant-Man, Dr. Hank Pym. He is older and weaker now; he needs someone to don the Ant-Man costume and stop his former Read More

Pastor Granillo: Connectivity

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By Pastor RAUL GRANILLO
Los Alamos

I noticed a sign this week that reads, “Everything in life is connected!” I believe that to be a true statement, and I think most people would agree.

We are all connected to each other through many channels including family, work, or school. Today social media has ensured that we are connected or connectable to anyone anywhere. Of course the sign implies a deeper connection than just everyday relationships; it reminds us that our lives intersect with the lives of others and all of creation in countless ways that we may never see but exist all the same.

I find it curious Read More

Solo Traveler: Delaying Dreams

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Solo Traveler
By SHERRY HARDAGE
Delaying Dreams

If there is one thing everybody learns eventually, it is that nothing is under our control.

We might think we have control as we work to earn money to pay bills, keep our lives organized, and discipline our wayward children. But just as every child is unpredictable, so is the rest of life.

In 2002 I read The Female Nomad by Rita Gelman. It was her memoir about going from rich movie producer’s wife, living in a big house in LA, to owning nothing more than she could carry. She began an adventure to live at large in the world. During the next 20 years she visited Read More

This Week At The Reel Deal

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By JIM O’DONNELL
Reel Deal Theater

“Summer at the Movies,” sponsored by Los Alamos National Bank, continues at 10 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. so be sure to come early, as these free movies have filled to capacity in the past. Film titles are listed at the bottom of this column.

New Reduced ticket prices:

  • Matinees before 6 p.m. for everyone $7.50
  • Evenings after 6 p.m.
    • Adults: $8.75
    • Seniors 60 and over: $7.50
    • Students (ID may be required) $7.50
    • Children 12 and under: $7.50
  • 3D surcharge: $2

This Friday we are opening Trainwreck  (From the director Judd Read More

Yang: Emotion Isn’t The Enemy Of Rationality

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By ELENA YANG
Los Alamos

Emotion Isn’t the Enemy of Rationality

After July 4th, I occasionally get into “summer lite” mood. This can mean sporadic short pieces (sometimes very short, but not today) with a slightly silly take on some current topics. 

I am a huge fan of Pixar movies ever since “Toy Story.” I also love most of the short films before each of the feature movies. I am still in awe of Pixar’s latest, “Inside Out”, which I finally caught on July 4th weekend. It’s a story about the emotional tumult of an 11-year old girl, handling the uprooting of her life when the family moved from Minnesota Read More

Smart Design With Suzette: Design That Inspires

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A window wall brings the outside in. Courtesy photo
 
Smart Design With Suzette
By SUZETTE FOX
Design That Inspires

Design that inspires creates emotions that make us feel, make us think and look at the world in a different light. Good design influences us.

It makes us feel peaceful and happy. Good design stimulates the five senses – not all at the same time of course – but deeply.

In America we spend around 90 percent of our time indoors, whether it’s at school, work, home, in shops, cafés, events, museums and galleries. Our environment says a lot about us, and the spaces that we inhabit Read More

Home Country: An American’s Basic Right To Be Wrong

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Home Country
By SLIM RANDLES

Windy Wilson was on the prowl, that beautiful Independence Day morning, searching the neighborhood for something to do for others. He decided to let his weekly day helping others come on the Fourth this week, because he was feeling very American.

Let’s see … he thought … I can circumlocute over to Mrs. Hennessey’s and see if her flower garden needs weeding. She’s got very close veins and the sugar diabeets, and getting around ain’t easy.

He headed in that direction when he came across two friends of his arguing over politics. They were standing there in the shade of an elm Read More

Pastor Granillo: Freedom To Live

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By Pastor RAUL GRANILLO
Los Alamos

“Do you have any regrets?”

I can’t tell you how many times I have been asked that question. I hear it asked of people all the time. We seem to be very interested in how people feel about their choices. And why not? After all, how they feel about a choice they’ve made helps us decide if it a path is worth the effort or not.

For the longest time when asked, I would always answer, “No, of course not. My decisions created the path that got me where I am.” (I think this is the most common answer I hear from others.) Today when I consider my past before I met Christ, I look at it more holistically Read More